Adelbert's Brewery - "Black Rhino" black ale

Today's beer came all the way from the Lone Star State, thoughtfully purchased for me by colleague (and blog reader) Avi on his recent trip to Texas. I haven't had too many Texas beers; I've of course had Shiner, and had a heretofore-forgotten local lager last year when I had a layover in Houston. So needless to say I am excited about trying another example, especially one from Austin, known to be a nexus of the Texas craft beer scene.

It's a 5.6% ABV black ale from Austin-based Adelbert's Brewery. There's a twist here - it's actually Belgian-inspired black ale. It's also aged - it says on the bottle that it was bottled on May 15, 2014. And with bottle conditioning, there's sure to be some fun surprises waiting inside.

The cork was really wedged in there, and even with a gentle shake, it still wasn't coming out. I tried gently twisting, and the cork broke, which is a new experience for me. The bulbous part snapped right off, so I had to use a corkscrew to pull the other part out.

The beer pours lighter than I expected - I expected black, it was more like a root-beer brown. The foam is a khaki color, and when candled, it's a nice red color.

It's interesting. It starts out pretty light, with some milk chocolaty notes that are both pleasant and expected. It tastes more like a black lager right away, but gives way to a much more recognizable Belgian taste as it develops. The finish is earthy, soft, and malty, with an aftertaste of coffee. There's also an undertone of Belgian spice, which comes into play as the beer warms up.

I'm a fan, and taste aside, it's good because it's light. At 5.6% ABV, it's strong enough to hold my interest but light enough not to overpower. There are no alcohol tastes or anything and the levity is enough to do away with the sickly-sweet roasted notes that dark beers sometimes have. This approach isn't conventional, but not unheard of. Particularly, I enjoy these kinds of "genre-bending" creations - taking two good styles of beer and seamlessly meshing them isn't easy, but when it's done right, it's great. I'd be curious to try this on draft, and to try other Adelbert's offerings.